TV advertising commercials exist in virtually all video data streams, subsidizing some or all of the cost of providing the content to the viewer. Brands, such as CocaCola®, Anheuser-Busch® (Budweiser®), Toyota®, and Apple®, pay large sums of money to advertise their products on broadcast TV channels, and on newer forms of streaming TV services. However, when a particular commercial is aired or streamed, the targeted prospective consumer (TV viewer) may not necessarily see the commercial, even if the viewer is actively watching the TV. In one scenario, the viewer does not see the commercial because the TV is tuned to a different channel than the channel that the commercial is being broadcast or streamed on. For example, the viewer is watching the local channel that broadcasts NBC, but the commercial is being aired on the local channel that broadcasts ABC. In another scenario, the viewer has activated a smart feature on the TV that skips commercials without impacting program content, or has activated some other form of ad blocker that prevents commercials from being displayed without impacting program content,
In either of these scenarios, the broadcaster or content streamer has properly performed their contractual duties by airing or streaming the commercial, but from the brand's perspective, no actual viewing of the commercial occurred, and the net result is no different than if the commercial was never aired or streamed at all. In another scenario when no commercial skipping feature or ad blocker is activated, and the viewer is actually watching a particular channel, the commercials that are currently being aired or streamed will actually be viewed, as hoped for by the advertisers.
The current state of affairs is highly disadvantageous to brands since they cannot exert sufficient control over whether or not their ad campaigns are being viewed. The present invention fulfills such a need by providing a mechanism to bring a level of fairness to the viewing process by ensuring that all commercials receive a fair share of “screen time.”